LYMAN — Residents at a public hearing Tuesday questioned the projected cost to renovate the former Cousens School building for use as a town hall and community center.

The former Cousens Memorial School, 382 Goodwins Mills Road, was built in 1937 with the help of Lyman native Horace Cousens, who upon his death bequeathed the town $20,000 to be used for educational purposes. An addition was built in 1965, and the building was used until 2007.

In 2008, the town purchased the building and surrounding seven acres for about $22,000 from Regional School Unit 57.

To help keep the building from further deterioration, in 2011 a drain to keep water out of the basement was installed, as was a new roof. In 2014, the town received a Brownsfield grant from the Environmental Protection Agency and paid $40,000 in matching funds, using the money to remove hazardous material, install new windows and tiles, and paint walls.

Despite all the expense, the building has been unused since the town purchased it, and Lyman officials estimate that the town spends about $30,000 a year for heat and general maintenance.

A town ad hoc committee formed earlier this year has come up with a projected cost of about $1.1 million to renovate the former school and transform part of it into town offices, leaving space for community use that could include a community center, an historical society office and a food pantry.

Residents will vote in November whether to fund the conversion by going out to bond for $893,000 and using $250,000 from the town’s unassigned reserve fund. They will also be asked to allow the town to sell the current town hall property and use those funds to help pay off the debt for the proposed renovations.

Ad hoc committee member Nate Poissant said at Tuesday’s public hearing that the Cousens school building, at about 10,300 square feet, is three times the size of the current town hall, and would suit the needs of the town now and well into the future.

Town officials say the current town hall is cramped for space, and Poissant said the town uses the former Cousens School to store some items it doesn’t have room for at town hall.

Resident Don Hernon said although he commended the committee for its work, he questioned the accuracy of the projected expense of the suggested project. He was concerned that if the project is approved, the town will come back to taxpayers for more money.

“The costs are sort of mushy,” said Hernon.

The Select Board said the town had every intention of completing the proposed project within the requested budget.

“We’ve got a great mil rate,” said Select Board Member Jeffrey Demers. “We’re not going to disturb that.”

Resident Roland Nadeau said he thought the town was handling the proposed renovation “backwards,” and should have hired an architect to come up with a design of the building before projecting numbers and asking residents to vote for funding.

Poissant countered that the committee used the expertise of some of the members, including himself, a builder; Brad Nikel, who works in excavation; and Joe Hirsch, parks and recreation director for the city of Saco, who worked on a project to transform a former armory in Saco to a community center.

The committee also consulted reports on the building from two different engineering firms, he said, and that the $1.1 million figure included a 10 percent contingency.

Select Board Chairwoman Nancy Harrison said the town had opted not to hire an architect at this juncture because it wanted to wait until the funding was approved for the project before it spent money on architectural work.

She also said the ad hoc committee members were “very mindful and thoughtful,” and that she had confidence in their work.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.